Trump pullout from Iran deal signals Mideast strategic shift

US President Donald Trump’s rejection of an accord curbing Iran’s nuclear activities and the escalation in hostilities between Iran and Israel that followed herald a new strategic dynamic in the Middle East that has heightened fears of greater conflict. While Europe is leading efforts to save the nuclear deal with Tehran, Iran’s regional rivals Israel and Saudi Arabia both are behind Washington. “The result is a coalition that rather goes against their nature,” said Denis Bauchard, Middle East expert at the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri) in Paris.